Entrance ROYAL — When Warren County’s golf system opened the 2021 drop period on Wednesday with its annual Curly Licklider Memorial Golf Event at Shenandoah Valley Golfing Club, it did so beneath a new head mentor for the 1st time in virtually 15 years.
Grant Lay, who was appointed to replace longtime head mentor Matt Wadas this summer time, produced his coaching debut for Warren County and faces the process of striving to spherical the Wildcats into a competitive squad. Wadas, who remains as Warren County’s wrestling coach, led the school’s golfing plan because 2007 in advance of stepping down immediately after the condensed 2020-21 period that took location past spring since of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Coaching golf has constantly been a aspiration of mine for the reason that it’s this sort of a exciting activity and it is meant so much to my life,” Lay stated on Wednesday right after his team’s opening tournament. “Seeing these younger young ones enthusiastic about enjoying makes me so joyful. I educate at Warren County Middle, so I have noticed these children developing up. I’ve been with them for the previous a few many years, so it is been wonderful just to see their faces once again mainly because I hadn’t noticed them in a although.”
Lay, who stated he’s performed golfing because age 10, inherits a Warren County workforce that fielded just four golfers final spring, two of which — junior Landon Pond and sophomore Jonathan Panciera — have returned. The initially-calendar year head coach reported 8 overall golfers make up the Wildcats’ roster this period, and freshmen Adam Andlinger and Sebastian France and sophomores Todd Jenkins and Molly Sims stuffed out the relaxation of Warren County’s setting up lineup on Wednesday.
Lay reported his golfing experience would help him in developing the actual physical and psychological components of the Wildcats’ match. He additional that 4 of the team’s golfers are also baseball players, so there are “a whole lot of baseball swings on the golf system,” and that it’s been enjoyable making an attempt to changeover those mechanics into a suited golf stroke.
“I seriously experience self-confident that I can enable them with the very little points with their golfing swings, but I truly know that I can inspire them to want to do superior and to know what they have to have as youngsters escalating up however,” he mentioned. “Athletes that want to get superior at the sport but never know how particularly, I assume I specialize in assisting them see what the huge purpose is here, attacking it at the little things initial and then heading on to the big items later on.”
Acquiring Warren County into a extra aggressive squad will choose time, Lay acknowledged. The Wildcats performed areas of previous period devoid of plenty of golfers to qualify for a group score, and only 1 golfer shot underneath 100 in both the Course 3 Northwestern District or Location 3B tournaments.
On Wednesday, all six Wildcats shot in triple-figures as they put previous out of the 25 teams that experienced for staff scoring.
Regardless of the long street to becoming additional competitive on the program, Lay stated the Wildcats had been keen to return to the program to start increasing when he gave them a preview of what Thursday’s exercise would glimpse like.
“It’s been seriously wonderful for these younger children who are just ready to roll,” Lay reported. “My work’s minimize out for me there, that is for positive.”
Lay, whose team returns to action at Shenandoah Valley Golf Club next Wednesday in a twin match from cross-town rival Skyline, stated he’s focusing in the beginning on his golfers retaining a constructive attitude for the reason that golfing is a sport that you have acquired to have equally a “short memory and a prolonged-term memory.”
“You’ve got to bear in mind what you did appropriate for the prolonged operate and ignore what you did wrong very speedily because your following shot is a few toes absent from you. It is all about just going on previous that shot. If you strike a fantastic shot, don’t forget accurately what you did on that swing and then go on from there,” Lay reported.
“I just want to keep seeing these little ones out right here enjoying the attractive recreation,” he added. “If it was effortless, everybody would do it, so that is why I like viewing these little ones that are mentally potent, that are ready to attack it.”
About the Author
